Chapter 10

Best Babysitter Ever!

Wednesday : March 5th 2025

The sun was setting over Melbourne as Ruby ventured out again. Her theory, at night she would have less trouble with people recognizing her and thus less embarrassing situations like earlier in the day. Luckily little David didn't have to think as tactically about any of that stupid shit, nor the stress and anxiety that comes from piloting a half million dollar supercar around a city. For him, this was an excursion of pure joy! Beaming from ear to ear, there likely wasn't a happier kid in the world, because he was about to go for a ride in a Lamborghini. 

“This thing is so cool Ruby!” He was so excited he had brought along his own little toy version of the same car, his white instead of yellow. Ruby could only giggle as memories were being recorded for a lifetime of remembrance. 

“Just remember what I said, be on your best behavior, because this isn't my car after all.”

“I will Ruby, I promise!” David swore as Ruby opened up the passenger, well, right side door.

“Wait, you drive it on the other side?” In all of his excitement earlier, he didn't even realize Ruby got out from the wrong side of the car. 

“Hehe, yeah. The owner is… well, I think she's an American. A real badass race car driver!” Ruby explained, shutting the door on him and hustling around to the other side. 

“She? Is she going to be in the GP?” David asked, and Ruby frowned. I actually don't know if she'll be at the Grand Prix?

“Uh, not exactly. There's another race on Phillip Island this weekend, with a bunch of old race cars. That's what she drives.” Ruby explained. 

“Can we go, please?!”

“That's a question for your mother, young man!” Ruby said with a laugh, as she fired up the massive V12 engine. David bounced around in his seat, before realizing from Ruby's stare that he needed to put his seatbelt on. 

“Good, belts on? Let's go!” The Murcielago was once again in a bit of a mood, having been once again woken from a peaceful slumber. It had likely driven more today than it ever had before and in more normal driving situations too. Start stop traffic, stalls, speed humps, a far cry from screaming around a race track or blasting down a highway. Still it reluctantly followed Ruby's instructions as it slowly came up to temperature. 

“This thing is like driving around in a lion!” David shouted, and Ruby laughed. You have no idea little man, one wrong move and it will bite both of our heads off. First stop was the Shell station Ruby had googled. As it turned out, super high octane isn't cheap, and Ruby's jaw dropped as the pump continued past $100 with pace. 

“How big is the fuel tank on this thing?” She said through gritted teeth as $150 came and went. Soon, mercifully, the pump kicked off. 167 of Ruby's finest Australian dollars reduced to sound and smiles. 

“Ouch…” Ruby winced as she took the receipt. Again, how do people drive these things… She climbed back inside, and quickly hid the poor, penny pinching, homeless Ruby with bubbly, happy go lucky, Ruby for David's sake. 

“Are you ready to go?” Ruby asked but David was too busy pretending he was driving the car. As he steered through an imaginary race course of his own design, Ruby once again couldn't help but genuinely smile. She may not understand how people live with cars like these, but she totally gets why people love them so much. 

Back on the road again, next stop was Hungry Jacks. Ruby hadn't even managed to grab a burger yesterday before Revz walked in, soaked to the bone, so today she was definitely getting that burger. 

Also, I wonder what Matty will have to say if he’s working… Ruby thought with a giggle to herself. What an upgrade, disappear with an American and return with a Lamborghini. Another bonus was a quick highway blast to give David his money's worth. Getting into the M1, David could barely contain himself as Ruby’s boot sunk down onto the accelerator pedal. The Murcielago once again came alive, engine roaring, with the only hesitations from the snap gear changes. 

“Wooooah!” David shouted, laughing like a goblin as Ruby slowed back down to the speed limit. 

“Do it again, do it again!” The Devil on Ruby's shoulder was demanding the same thing, and between him and David, the desperate cries of the Angel on the other shoulder were drowned out by the engine as the revs again climbed. Third gear, fourth gear, by the time Ruby looked down again, she was doing well over 200 kph. 

“Eeeek!” Ruby screeched between her teeth, foot jumping over to the brake pedal. The nose dived as the car came back down to a more sensible speed rapidly. David was cackling in the passenger seat, already demanding another pull, but Ruby quickly shut that idea down. The extreme ease this car could go at extreme speed was scary, however the adrenaline rush was something that could not be denied. The feel of being slammed back into the seat with an enormous wave of torque reminded her of the first time she drove her UTE when she was getting her license. The thrill, the rush, it had now become common to her as she lived with the car day to day. But this Lamborghini was a beast of a different sort, and one who would take far longer than she had to get used to.

“Come on Ruby, just one more time.” David pleaded.

“I'm sorry Davey, but if we keep doing that the police will come, and we'll both go to jail.” Ruby lied, not just to him but herself. She wanted to step on the gas again, more than anything in the world. But that sudden shock of seeing 233 kph on the speedometer had put the fear of God and common sense back into her. Besides, this was their turning off the motorway. 

Along with speed humps, quirks of the flappy paddle gearbox, limited visibility, and an insatiable appetite for petrol, drive throughs also turned out to be yet another of the Achilles heels of the Lamborghini. As Ruby pulled into line, she quickly realized she had made a mistake. With the car as wide as it was, and as hard to see out of as it was, she found it difficult to gauge where the raised curbs of the drive through were exactly. To make things worse it was now totally dark, and on the back side of the restaurant there wasn't much lighting. Luckily, she had a more than willing copilot sitting in the passenger seat. 

“David, lean out the window and tell me how close I am to that curb.”

“Okay Ruby!” David chirped happily, and soon a chant of… 

“you're alright, you're alright, you're alright,” was coming from the right as the car inched forward. Problem number two, of course, was the swapped sides for the driving position. This meant David would be the one placing the order. 

“Hello, welcome to Hungry Jack's, how can I help you today?” Came the voice over the speaker and seemingly confused, David looked back at Ruby, unsure of what to say. 

“I want a whopper meal and you can get whatever you want!” Ruby instructed him, and then instantly regretted it.

“I need two whopper meals, eighteen nuggets, onion rings, and a bubble gum storm please!”

“Uh, David, I know you're not going to eat all that…” Ruby muttered, more to herself than David as she knew he wasn't listening. After a brief pause, the person on the intercom returned with…

“Will that be it?”

“Yeah, that’s all please!”

“$56.15 at the next window.” The color disappeared from Ruby’s face as she did some quick mental math. Between this meal and filling up the Lambo, any profit from tonight's festivities was gone. Worse still, she would be in the red if she topped off the Lamborghini again before giving it back to McClaire. With a sigh of defeat, and a few jerks from the unsympathetic bull, the car crawled forward much to the amazement of the older lady in the window.

“Wow, nice car…” Was the first thing she said, and little David beamed with joy. Giggling and snickering like a little goblin.

“Hehe, It’s a Lamborghini!” He replied.

“I see that, is it yours young man?” The lady asked with that clear, sarcastic, grandmotherly question tone of voice. David shook his head however and answered honestly. 

“I wish… It’s my babysitter’s!” The old lady now mirrored Ruby, a blank, colorless look of pure amazement and slight terror was on her face. Ruby could see the questions she wanted to ask blinking in and out of her eye’s like out of service traffic lights. 

Who was she babysitting, the Prime Minister’s son? 

How could a babysitter afford a big yellow Lamborghini? 

What did she do wrong in her life to end up working at a drive through while a teenager was driving this… 

Ruby cringed in deep embarrassment as a long drawn out silence echoed through the drive through, and poor David looked back and forth totally clueless of the emotional damage he had just inflicted on both of them.